Radioactive
by SSTR87
Summary: VoTE fight tears open a rift. Now, Naruto and Sasuke must make their in a world that makes the Shinobi world seem calm and peaceful in comparison. Will it bring out the best or the worst in the boys?


_**Naruto!**_

 _ **Sasuke!**_

The dual cries were fierce and enraged as the two thirteen year olds pressed the boundaries and limits of his respective body, a Chidori singing a deadly song of a thousand birds chirping while a Rasengan defied all laws of physics and motion, shredding the still air between the boys. Ordinarily there would be no consequence as neither boys' attack would collide with the other, but this time, a minor flinch, a fraction of a movement one way instead of the other had these attacks, one cutting the fabric of matter and the other twisting reality in on itself, and the boys create a rift.

With no witnesses nearby a hole opened and swirled like a drain as the attacks fed each other. Both Sasuke and Naruto were in the epicenter and pulled right through...

 **The Other Side**

As with everything, events were occurring here that mirrored major events in other realities, each occurring simultaneously, even if each world has a different method of calculating time.

The year here was 199X, and the world was rocked, shaken to her very foundation as one after another atomic bombs detonated and shredded the thin membrane between this world and that of the ninja boys...

 **Undisclosed Location**

Sasuke landed nimbly on his feet, looking down at Naruto, who was unconscious and lying on the scorched earth. Gone was the Valley of The End. Gone was any signs of water, only himself, Naruto and a barren frontier as far as his eyes could see. With a self-assured smirk, Sasuke assumed he and Naruto had caused such destruction by their attacks. He casually strolled to Naruto's prone form and looked down on him.

The sky groaned in agony as she darkened, and as Sasuke let his hitae-ite fall beside Naruto and tears streamed from his eyes down his cheeks, black ash rained down.

 _"You said that I'd have to kill my closest friend to obtain **that** power. Mangekyo Sharingan,"_ he thought out to his brother as his face raised to the sky. His left hand clenched into such a tight fist that the casual observer would have heard the tendons popping under the strain. _"I'll achieve that power my own way."_

At his declaration Sasuke began to walk away, seeking out Orochimaru.

Not an hour later Naruto groaned and slowly sat up, a hand clutching his aching skull. "Kuso! What happened, Dattebayo?"

Silence greeted Naruto and the blonde began to look around in confusion. "Whoa, where the heck am I," he pondered as he took in the thermonuclear winter wonderland. Even now gray and white ash was continuously falling, making Naruto's blue eyes dance in merriment.

"AHHH!"

The scream shook the blonde from his stupor. As he rose to his feet, his right hand landed on something buried in the ash and he lifted it to reveal Sasuke's headband, a scar running through the Leaf symbol.

"KEEEN!" Again, that woman's scream shook Naruto, this time making the boy charge off in the direction it came from. The blonde raced along as fast as his legs could take him, his mind processing and filing away the fact that there were no trees around despite the fact he had just chased Sasuke through one.

He slid to a halt to spy a group of men, all burly and standing over a man with thick black hair that fell to his nape. The man was on the ground and weakly reaching up towards the redheaded woman that was calling out for him. A tall blonde man grinned savagely as he led the woman away, her eyes locked on the feeble man.

Naruto gritted his teeth and pulled out a kunai from his thigh pouch, the last one at that, and raced ahead, full-steam. "Hey! Get away from them," he challenged loudly, gaining the attention of the gathered.

The blonde man smirked as he crossed his arms. "Some punk kid wants to end his life so early, aye? Kill him," Shin commanded flippantly as he seated himself and his spoils, that being the lovely young woman Yuria, in a dune buggy. The thunder of the engine startled Naruto and left him open to an ax from behind.

"Korah!" shouted a thug as he grinned like a demon, hits ax spilling crimson fluid through the air as he split Naruto's back wide open.

However, as in the fashion of shinobi, the ordinarily lethal blow only acted as a flesh wound and snapped Naruto back to reality.

The shinobi spun to face the eight foot man as he licked the blood from his ax with glee. "You creepy bastard," Naruto challenged as he leaped up and kicked the man across his face, sending him sailing away with a broken jaw.

Another thug fired an arrow from a crossbow, but Naruto easily outmaneuvered it and brought his kunai up against and into the man's exposed, bare, chest. A crimson rain poured down from on high as the thug fell backwards, dead before hitting the ground.

A single thug managed to sneak behind Naruto and shoulder-checked him, knocking him to the ground as six more thugs approached with lust-filled eyes, bloodlust being the common trait.

Naruto sprung back to his feet and with the kunai still clutched in reverse grip, he formed a cross handseal. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu," he called out and a series of cloud explosions erupted, revealing a dozen clones of Naruto. "Yosh! Let's kick these guys' asses," Naruto cheered as his mini army charged forward.

Over in the dune buggy Shin's eyes twinkled at the technique, realizing it for the solid clones that were revealed, much different than his genjutsu clone techniques. "Interesting," he noted. "Let's go. These fools can handle the brat. I want to enjoy the comfort of Yuria back home," he cackled loudly as his driver began to move the car along.

Unfortunately for the remaining dozen thugs, Naruto made quick work of them after the numbers advantage had been reduced. He quickly made his way to the downed man, seeing that his knees, ankles, wrists and elbows were all cut, in addition to seven scars on his chest in the shape of the Big Dipper. "Hey, mister, are you alright?"

Kenshiro looked up into the eyes of Naruto for a moment before nodding feebly. "I... I need to rest," he whispered.

Naruto smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah, me too," he acknowledged as he felt his chakra supply reduced to fumes. After his battle with Sasuke and subsequently creating several clones, he needed sleep and a meal wouldn't hurt either...

 **A Week Later**

Naruto sighed tiredly as his belly cried out in pain. His body has healed long ago, but after an entire week of walking, not to mention carting Kenshiro behind himself, Naruto had yet to find hide or tale of the forest near The Valley of The End, much less any wildlife.

 **"Caw-caw..."** speaking of wildlife, Naruto looked high into the sky against the backlight of a harsh sun to spot a couple buzzards floating lazily in the sky.

"Food," he whimpered around patched lips and a dry throat. That simple word brought the coppery tang of blood to his mouth as joys throat tore under the strain.

A heavy wind pushed its way through the barren lands, sand pelting Naruto's face even as the teen raised an arm to shield himself. The cries of the buzzards above once more drew Naruto's attention. They were circling something and Naruto was eager to find out what.

The best case scenario was a lake of fresh water, at worst a rotting corpse. Either way, the blonde ninja, his hair slightly fading to a softer shade due to the rigors and malnutrition, would catch at least one of the birds wherever they would land.

With renewed strength and hope, Naruto pushed himself to drag Kenshiro's recovering body, strapped on a wooden cart, towards the potential oasis.

As Naruto moved between two dunes he came into sight of a city. Well, the remains of such at least. Skyscrapers that once kissed the clouds now kowtowed to the earth, steel and iron and glass shattered where the buildings tipped sideways or leaned against the next. Streets once paved were now cracked and ruined in disrepair. The raunchy stench of death and palpable taste of rot hung in the air twisting Naruto's gut with no reprieve.

The boy fell to his knees a moment, dry-heaving.

"N... Naruto," Kenshiro whispered, the best effort he was able to put forth given his situation. You have to go beyond your senses. Focus on your mission. We need..." Whatever else Kenshiro wanted to say was cut off as he once more succumbed to darkness.

However, his words were just enough. And as a dry wind howled through the lifeless city, Naruto claimed his feet again, his mind incapable of deep thought and his body moving of its own volition as he grabbed the handles of the cart and hefted his end into the air, once more dragging Kenshiro.

The duo slowly entered the city, the buzzards increasing in number. Naruto's stomach twisted violently and the pain doubled the blonde over, yet he did not stop.

A noise took Naruto's attention. Something moving, bubbling, rushing?

"Water," Naruto whispered feebly, hope prominent in his voice, as his limbs began to tremble. He barely mustered the wherewithal to drag Kenshiro along.

Lucky that he did as he came upon a pool of water. A giant pipe had ruptured from the ground in the city's dying throes and was spilling its contents like a simple brook. The blonde laid on his belly to sip the water when Kenshiro's voice broke through.

"N-... Poison," the healing man barked weakly.

Naruto stopped and looked around, sighting over a dozen emaciated and bloated bodies floating in the water nearby, each as desperate as himself. With dry dust for tears, Naruto got back to his feet, watching as the buzzards landed around him, just staring and waiting for him to give in to his temptation.

It was then that Naruto realized it. The damn birds! Those buzzards that he thought himself clever to follow, planning to track, trap and consume them... It was they that had lured him here, baited by empty promises and brought to a perfect trap.

Even now, they seemed to know that he was at his physical limit and were just waiting to see if he would falter. For them, to stumble meant death...

"Hey, scat!"

Naruto looked up at the voice. It was a young feminine voice. To his ears that had heard nothing but the howling wind it was nigh-angelic.

He couldn't get his tired eyes to focus enough to take in the person's appearance and as he tried to wave a getting he pitched forward in a dead faint.

 **Later**

"I don't think it was such a good idea to bring them here, Ashley," came the gruff voice of a man as Naruto slowly came to.

"So, what should I have done, Sean? Just leave them for the birds?" It was that feminine voice again, and this time Naruto had a name to put to it. Andrea.

His eyes pried themselves open, gunk and crust nearly gluing them closed. "..." He started to speak up, but his parched throat relegated him to a fit of dry, harsh coughs. Again that all-too-familiar tang of copper, of blood shaking itself loose in the back of his throat...

"Easy there, kiddo," Andrea addressed softly as she hurried to his side and offered a bit of clean water. "Whoa, slow down," she advised softly as Naruto tried to gulp the fluid his body needed.

After few minutes of drinking, he took in the form of Andrea and her partner, Sean.

They were obviously siblings, both with brown, dusty hair, square faces with light green eyes, both near their mid-twenties. Sean was a healthy young man, easily five ten while Andrea stood five five, although no less healthy. She smiled at the blonde boy warmly, her eyes sparkling fondly.

Naruto smacked at his lips for a bit, trying to get some moisture to them. "K- Kenshiro... Where," he tried only cough a bit more, sand flowing from his mouth, having worked itself clear of his lungs finally.

Andrea patted his hands. "Your friend, he's fine. Jacob, our medic, saw to his wounds. With all hope you two should be back up to par in a couple weeks," she offered kindly.

Naruto nodded and turned on his side, a more comfortable position to lay. "Th-thank you," he whispered before falling back to sleep.


End file.
